1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to the field of bow hunting for game animals and more particularly to the use of a device used in combination with an arrow or crossbow bolt to impede the escape of a wounded game animal.
2. Description of Prior Art
Within the sport of bow hunting, recovery of the game animal after the shot is often a challenge. It is common for a game animal to survive an initial strike by a projectile, such as an arrow or a crossbow bolt, whereby it then attempts to escape from the hunter. An escaped, injured game animal may travel a great distance; if it is not quickly retrieved it may be lost to the hunter forever. While some injured animals may recover, many more die slow, lingering deaths. Thus the imperative for tracking and retrieving game animals shot with a projectile. Traditional means for tracking and retrieving an injured game animal involve observing the impact of the escaping game animal on the environment, such as leaving tracks, disturbing vegetation, and the like. An injured animal also often leaves a blood trail from the wound or wounds caused by the projectile, and this can be followed. However, some game animals, such as wild turkeys, typically do not leave a blood trail. Wild turkeys can also fly, making environmental tracking that much more difficult.
The field of bow hunting for game animals is therefore replete with systems designed to assist the hunter in tracking or retrieving a game animal successfully shot with a projectile. These range from the basic, such as an arrow trailing a string, to the quirky, such as arrows which trail smoke or emit a blinking light signal or a specific odor, to the technologically advanced, such as arrow-borne electronic homing devices. However, none of these devices addresses the basic issue of the game animal making its initial escape.
In the subfield of bow fishing, the prior art teaches the use of arrows with trailing fishing line, so that a fish struck with an arrow can be retrieved. The trailing line used is typically attached to the arrow at one end and a reel or anchor or flotation device at the other end; once the fish is struck by the arrow, the fisherman draws in the line, retrieving the fish. While this does address the escape of the fish, it is not practically applicable to hunting terrestrial game animals. Typically, the range for bow fishing is far less than for other types of bow hunting, and an arrow trailing a line in flight is far less accurate.
There is therefore a need for a projectile-based system for impeding the initial escape of a terrestrial-based game animal struck by said projectile, whereby the system does not compromise the range or accuracy of the projectile.
It is therefore an objective of this invention to provide a projectile-based system for impeding the escape of a game animal.
It is a further objective of this invention to provide a projectile-based system for impeding the escape of a game animal having a minimum impact on the range and accuracy of the projectile in flight.
It is yet a further objective of this invention to provide a projectile-based system for impeding the escape of a game animal which is easy to use in the field.
It is yet a further objective of this invention to provide a projectile-based system for impeding the escape of a game animal which is inexpensive to manufacture.
It is yet a further objective of this invention to provide a projectile-based system for impeding the escape of a game animal which allows bow hunters to use their preferred model of shaft, fletching, and arrowhead.
It is yet a further objective of this invention to provide a projectile-based system for impeding the escape of a game animal which increases blunt traumatic forces to the game animal, thereby limiting its ability to escape and potentially hastening its dispatch.
Other objectives of this invention will be evident from the following disclosure.